DFB buys two from Campbell-Johnston

David Fickling Books has signed two books from the Times art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston.

David Fickling made the deal for world rights with...

David Fickling Books has signed two books from the Times art critic Rachel Campbell-Johnston.

David Fickling made the deal for world rights with Georgina Capel of the Capel & Land Agency, with the first book, The Child’s Elephant, to be published in May 2013.

Fickling said: “DFB is so proud and lucky to be publishing this astonishing, beautifully written début by a hugely gifted brand new writer for children: a heart-wrenching animal story, straight out of Africa today which is by turns brutal, beautiful and immensely touching. It’s a classic or I’m a giraffe.”

The book is described as “an extraordinary story of the incredible friendship between a boy and an elephant, and their survival against all the odds”. Campbell-Johnston has spent a lot of time in Africa, working as a journalist and living on a wildlife reserve.